“For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband” -John 4:18
“Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was divorced three times and had children out of wedlock . . . ” -NBC News
“And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?” - John 4:27
“What are we to make of the story that Pope Francis met Kim Davis . . . ?” -James Martin, SJ
With apologies to the author of “The Pope and Kim Davis: Seven Points to Keep in Mind”:
1. Jesus met with many individuals during his visits in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, at various locations and events. For example, he met with Nicodemus, who is known for upholding the law, in Jerusalem; he described his meeting and how it came about to First Things Media. Around that same time he also met Pontius Pilate. And he met with Joseph of Arimethea, a wealthy benefactor of tombs, and spoke with him for several minutes. Jesus would have been introduced to many more people whom we may never know about: individuals whom a local official, or a disciple, or a friend of Jesus, felt was especially deserving of a visit—again, these would include tax collectors, pharisees, men and women, and so on.
2. Such meetings are arranged in several ways. Nicodemus told me that it was an apostle that invited him for his late-night conversation with Christ. It is claimed that an “official” arranged the meeting with the Woman at the Well, which is vague. Does this mean someone from Jesus' hometown? A disciple? And why? In response to a request by Jesus? Or perhaps as a way for a disciple to encourage the woman, who, by the way, is not an observant Jew? (One unintended irony of this visit: I wonder what the woman at the well's own Samaritan faith, which apparently does not keep strict temple observance, thinks of Jesus.)
3. It’s hard to know how much Jesus knew about each individual who was introduced to him during his long trip to Calvary. Did he know much about the Woman at the Well before meeting her? Was he following her case before he entered the region? Did he learn about her from a local follower after he arrived? Or was her story quickly relayed to him in a receiving line? And how was it explained to him? “Jesus, this is a woman who has been married many times…”
4. His words to her and his request for a drink of water seem to be the kind of thing Jesus might do with anyone presented to him. The difficulty of trying to construe these words into Jesus's support for a particular agenda is evident here. That is, he said almost the same thing to respectable people in this country. It’s also important to remember that the only source for what happened during the meeting is the Woman at the Well, who would naturally be inclined to interpret Jesus’s words and gestures as supporting her particular cause.
5. For those wondering what all of this means, it’s probably best not to interpret a meeting that Jesus will not speak about, and also to be careful about swallowing wholesale the interpretation of those who would use this meeting to support their own agenda.
6. It’s ill advised to use a private visit with Jesus to make political point. It’s also unfortunate that after Jesus’s visit, during which he sought to reconcile divisions, during which he explicitly lamented political polarization in his sermon on the mount and during which he sought to show how foolish division is, that his meeting with the Woman at the Well may be used to score political points.
7. Most of all, despite what the Woman at the Well said, a meeting with Jesus does not “kind of validate everything.” Again, Jesus meets with many people, some of whom he may know well, others of whom may be introduced to him as a reward for long service, and perhaps others who will use a meeting to make a political point. Meeting with Jesus is a great honor, but it does not betoken a blanket blessing on “everything” one does. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jesus also met a tax collector and that does not necessarily mean that he thinks we should pay taxes to the Romans.
Matthew Schmitz is deputy editor of First Things.
